By Christine de Kock
STUDENTS from Caroline Chisholm Catholic College will represent Victoria next month in the national Royal Australian Chemical Institute.
Three students will be involved in the competition, measuring and calculating the hydrogen potential or PH value of a solution.
Science coordinator Paul McGuire said the competition would take place on campus.
“They send the chemical solutions to the school and, using titration techniques, the students have to submit calculations.”
Mr McGuire explained that titration was an important skill for anyone working in the chemical industry or in a laboratory.
“It is an academic achievement for these students to be placed in the top 10 from around the state of Victoria,” he said.
“Being able to analyse would help in a field such as forensic science.
“All the CSI television shows demonstrate techniques like titration,” Mr McGuire said.
“Basically, so-called nerdy skills have become trendier.”
Student Dean Popovski, who is 18 years old, said he would very much like to take a science-law degree, and work for a company like the CSIRO.
Willy Yu, who is also 18, said he was interested in chemistry as a hobby, but planned to enter a career in hotel management.
The chemical composition of elements intrigues Willy.
Walter Rodas, who is 17years old, would like to be a computer programmer, and makes sure he gets as much experience as possible in his chosen field.
“Yeah, I play a lot of video games,” he said.
He is also interested in nano technology as a career.
